Task. 36: The Oni's Kanabou
The Oni's Kanabou is the thirty-sixth episode of GoGo Sentai Boukenger. Synopsis Satoru and Eiji raise a modern-day Momotarou after a kanabou of the Oni is taken by the Questers. Plot The Questers find the Mountain-Crushing Kanadou easily in a cave though it soon starts shaking. They are attacked by the six transformed Boukenger. They jest that it is hard to tell who is doing the robbing. Yellow says the Precious aren't to be treated as finder's keepers. The Questers blast them and leave. The Earth shakes again and Pink then spots a giant peach approaching them in the river. Silver detransforms and approaches it. He asks for help from Satoru. They grab it and struggle to lift it. The peach opens up to reveal a baby boy and a sword. Shouta says he knew it. In the street mall, Satoru (with the baby attached) meets up with Eiji who has bought a carriage. Eiji helps Satoru take the baby off. Satoru doesn't know why he has to take care of it with Eiji saying the baby believes the first person they see as their parent. The baby starts crying and the two men panicked and sends them scrambling for milk to feed him. Sakura asks who the baby is, Mr. Voice is sure he is Momotarou. Natsuki reads the Japanese folktale, that says Momotarou is born from a giant peach floating down a river. They focus on the Questers, Shouta heard them talking about yet another robo. Sakura tells them all to split up to track the energy signal to find their base. Satoru is feeding the baby milk and Eiji smells that he needs a diaper change. The baby pees in Satoru's face and they both fall on the ground. Later, they are exhausted. Satoru wants to name him Tarou, Eiji agrees. He suddenly glows and grows huge, much to the two's surprise. The boy calls Eiji uncle first and before he can call Satoru dad, Satoru stops him but he does it anyway. Tarou cries. Satoru and Eiji arrive at SGS with Tarou. Sakura asks the child but he is scared and hides behind Satoru. Shouta comes to him with the sword and asks if it is his and what does it mean. He then runs to Eiji's side. Natsuki shows him the book and asks if he is Momotarou. Tarou goes back to Satoru and he tells them all to take it easy on him because he is just a child. Eiji criticizes the child saying Momotarou wouldn't be a crybaby like him. He says, "Men don't sob uncontrollably." Tarou apologizes to Eiji and then says he is hungry. Satoru asks him what he wants and he says Kibi Dango, which is part of the legend. Eiji offers him a cucumber. Satoru is concerned that eating raw things like that will effect his body. The two fight over what Tarou should eat. Shouta says they have completely changed. The little family go to a restaurant, but Eiji doesn't want Satoru to baby him. At the store, Satoru gives him a cute outfit but Eiji brings a grey outfit, saying a man must be wild. Tarou falls down in the park and starts crying. Satoru tends to him but Eiji wants him to be tough. Eiji grabs the child on his back and run off. Meanwhile, the others can't find anything on the Questers. Just like clockwork, Quester Robo Radial busts out of a mountain. It uses the Precious to destroy the mountains. Back to the Boukengers, Tarou explains he cries because he knows he has to kill the Oni. Eiji listens from a bench. Satoru tells him no Oni exist in this era. He explains those who steal the Precious are considered Oni, meaning the Questers. He is scared. Satoru tells him not to worry. Eiji approaches them and tells Tarou he is pathetic and that Momotarou wouldn't cry, he would kill the Oni. He tells him that if he doesn't like it, he should return to the mountains. Tarou looks down. Eiji kneels down and tells him he should do it if he thinks he has to. Satoru doesn't think he can defeat the Questers alone. Eiji asks Tarou if he will run or face his destiny. Eiji states that he hate quitters. Tarou then cries. Satoru tells Eiji he went too far, that Tarou is still just a child. Eiji explains that he was prepared to fight the Ashu since he was a baby. He turns and leaves them. That night at SGS, Tarou reads the book and thinks about what Eiji said. He cloes the book and then holds at the sword. Satoru enters with food and watches the boy. The next day Satoru is yet again shocked to find Tarou has grown. He grabs his sword as he stands up and tells his father he will exterminate the Oni. Everyone is surprised. Satoru is not taking it well, he approaches the boy carefully. Eiji is standing by the door. Satoru holds Tarou by the shoulders and says, "You're my only..." He then leaves. Eiji is thrilled with his choice. Masumi says they don't know where the Questers are. Tarou says he knows where the Precious is. Eiji is ready to go but Satoru stops them. Eiji thinks Satoru is still against it. Satoru approaches with a jacket for Tarou which he places on him. Natsuki says Satoru is like a mother. Masumi says he feels sick. Eiji tells them to shut up. He tells them that Masumi, Natsuki, and Shouta are the dog, pheasant, and monkey from the story. Tarou asks who is the Kibi Dango. Eiji volunteers Sakura. She protests. Satoru tells her it can't be helped. Eiji says this time mom and dad are going because the era has changed. Tarou is touched. In their base, Rei turns on the Quester Robo. Gai tosses him the Precious and it grows huge. The Robo grabs it. Rei joins Gai outside. A voice stops them. It is Tarou. Gai is not impressed, he tells him to vamoose. Eiji approaches and tells them to shut up. Everyone else arrives in support of Tarou to eliminate the 'Oni.' Masumi presents himself as the dog, Shouta as the monkey, and Natsuki as the pheasant. Sakura is bummed and doesn't say anything. Everyone turns to her. To Natsuki's urging, she raises the Kibi Dango. Eiji grabs two of them, eats one and gives the other to Tarou. Satoru hands him the Sword and he pulls it out. He goes forward as the others transform. The other four go to destroy the robo. Rei is sent after them. Gai blasts the family out of the cave and down. Eiji encourages Tarou, telling him he is a man. Tarou slashes Gai twice. Silver tells him to finish him. Tarou is about to but Gai grabs his sword. Gai teases Tarou and slices his sword and pushes him down. He is about to get to him, but that is about it for the dotting parents. They shoot Gai off and pull Tarou up. Tarou runs away. Gai calls the fact that the boy left a punchline. Silver tells Red to take care of it and he is about to go after the boy when Red tells him that no everyone is like him.Silver exists. Gai attacks Red and they continue fighting. Eiji calmly walks to Tarou, who is crying. Tarou apologizes. Eiji runs to him, apologizing for making him feel pathetic, he didn't mean it. He tells him he has been Tarou ever since he was a baby, not Momotarou, that he shouldn't live up to that, being himself is good enough. He tells him he did good and he is better. Eiji cries on his chest, he is glad. Meanwhile Rei is fighting with Blue, Pink, Yellow, and Black. Red does the Golden Slash attack on Gai with Zuuban. Gai falls next to Rei and the five original Boukenger re-group. The Questers jump into their Robo. The earth shakes and the Boukenger run out of the cave. They gather outside to watch the Quester Robo decimate the mountain. They form DaiVoyager and is hit by the Robo and Precious. SirenBuilder punches them down. Silver apologizes for taking long. Tarou watches. Robo punches SirenBuilder down. Then DaiVoyager is then slashed down and falls on top of SirenBuilder. Tarou thinks back to what Eiji said to him. Tarou then runs toward them. The Questers lower the Precious towards DaiVoyager but it is obstructed... By the boy himself. Tarou says he is not Momotarou but he will defeat the Oni. He then proceeds to turn the Precious and the Robo around and around and swings them away. The three robos getup and SB does its Triplicate Bomber attack. DaiVoyager finishes the Robo off and the Questers leap out. Tarou catches the Precious, which has returned to its normal size. Later, Satoru fixes Tarou clothes. Tarou says he is going to return the Kanabou to the shrine. Eiji asks what will happen to him. He says because his mission is done, he will return to the mountain. Eiji tells him not to cry anymore and hands him a cucumber. Tarou holds back the tears and says, "You two are like my father." He munches on the veggie like Eiji and walks off. Satoru starts crying and bends over the river. Tarou becomes the peach again and floats away in the river. Eiji sighs and turns around. Natsuki asks if he is lonely. Masumi teases him that he might be crying. Eiji shrugs it off and says he is relieved he is gone. Shouta thinks he is putting up a front. Satoru is still crying. Sakura wonders if he will return back to normal. Eiji splashes water on Satoru. He tries to help him off but Satoru brushes him off and he falls in the river. Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : Guest Cast *Taro: , , The 30 Sentai Encyclopedia: Special Files has been replaced]] *'Henkei and Gattai Robos': The team looks back at the first Henkei '''(変形, Transforming) '''Robo, Denshi Sentai Denziman's DaiDenzin, as well as the first Gattai '''(合体, Combining) '''Robo, Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan's Sun Vulcan Robo. Clips are shown DaiDenzin performing the Full Moon Cut and Sun Vulcan Robo performing the Aurora Plasma Return finishers. At the end of the segment, Mr. Voice says that he'll send Satoru to NASA at which Satoru, Sakura, Souta (eating anpan as he did in the Denziman retrospective), and Natsuki (eating curry as she did in the Goranger and Super Sentai retrospectives) are stunned. Then, Eiji and Masumi come in wearing replicas of Satoru's jacket, saying that they will lead the team. In the end, Mr. Voice says it is all a joke. **This is Souta's sixth time starting the segment. **Song: "1 + 2 + Sun Vulcan" (1たす2たすサンバルカン, Ichi Tasu Ni Tasu San Barukan) performed by Akira Kushida **The joke of sending Akashi to NASA refers to the early departure of Ryuuske Oowashi from Sun Vulcan due to his actor, Ryūsuke Kawasaki being removed and replaced in-series by Takayuki Hiba; this is the only notable time which a Red hero has been replaced in Sentai full-time until the end. (although a more radical Red replacement would occur four years later, it would only be briefer and story-related) **While Souta eating anpan again once again refers to Daigorou Oume, Natsuki's curry eating this time isn't in reference to Daita Ooiwa but to Asao Hyou (VulPanther), who like the first Kirenger was a huge curry fan. **The sight of Satoru's teammates rushing to replace him with copies of his red jacket coincidentally echoes Power Rangers SPD, the conclusion of which saw Bridge Carson and Sky Tate respectively promoted from SPD Green and SPD Blue to take Sky and Jack Landors' place as SPD Blue and SPD Red; Bridge was later shown to have reached the position of SPD Red as seen in the anniversary special Once A Ranger, equivalent to Boukenger vs. Super Sentai. Notes *'Viewership': 6.2% *This episode utilizes the legends and concepts of the legend of Momotarō, slightly adjusting it to make him not merely a hero of one period but one who reawakens when the power of the Oni reappears. **In a strange coincidence, the which starts two months after this episode written by this episode's writer will twist the on its ear. Mecha References *Quester Robo Radial (Advance): DaiDenzin (Denshi Sentai Denziman) **The usage of DaiDenzin in this episode with the Kanabou reflects on the concept of Denziman: the awakening of warriors via an ancient guardian to take on their ancient enemy (in Denziman, the Vader Clan had destroyed planet Denzi long ago and the Denziman themselves appear when Denzi Dog IC awakens with their return, just as Momotarou returns with the taking of the kanabou). DVD releases GoGo Sentai Boukenger Volume 9 features episodes 33-36: Task 33: The Sun of Lemuria, Task 34: The Distant Memories, Task 35: The Head of God and Task 36: The Oni's Kanabou. http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/sp21/bouken.html References Category:GoGo Sentai Boukenger Category:Sentai episodes Category:Written by Yasuko Kobayashi